New Computer.

[Sparky Jim]

Being an Irish Lad I understand what you mean Freddie, however i would point out that as Dell operate in the Republic as a Division of the parent, it would be Illegal under Irish Law for them to sell it to you at English prices. My brother runs a small business and he closed his Irish Office and moved to Wrexham so he could offer his Irish customers a better deal by selling at the same price he does in the UK.

Governments make stupid rules, not companies.

Regarding the Dell issue, I have never bought one personally, but the Wife has one, and so do most of my neighbours, I do not recall hearing bad things about Dell, and believe me, when us Irish lads have had a few beeers, it isn't just the ladies we moan about. I would guess that you happened to be one of the unlucky fellows who got a bad machine, and then found the office moron when you phoned up. It shouldn't happen that way, but sometimes life will work out like that.

 

[Freddie]

 

[felix]

Don't write off a perfectly good computer just because it's old. The question to ask is does it do the stuff you want it to do. I'm typing this on a Pentium 233 MMX so you're ahead of me already! Remember that whatever you can buy now will be better and cheaper next year so there's no advantage in buying more than you really need today.

You don't have to get a new computer just because the old one has malware on it either. If you've let it get into your old one it will soon find its way into the new one too. Software security is important. There are nasties out there that can corrupt your files, steal your credit card details, download stuff from objectionable (and possibly illegal) websites, make your modem dial premium rate numbers, etc, etc. If you don't like shelling out money for software try these:

Free virus checker: AVG from www.grisoft.com

Free spyware/adware blocker: Spybot S&D from www.safer-networking.org

Free firewall: Outpost free edition from www.agnitum.com

If you do decide you need a new computer I recommend you go to a specialist computer shop who will put one together for you but don't hand over your money yet. Ask them for a quote listing all the bits they're going to give you. Take this to one of your computer literate friends then, when they stop laughing, take the modified specification back to the shop.

IMPORTANT! When a salesman says something like "This PC comes complete with Windows XP and Office 2003", demand genuine Microsoft (or whoever) disks for your money. Don't be fobbed off with a so called recovery disk. If you're buying software you want the real McCoy.

I might be opening a can of worms here but in my opinion Microsoft sold XP before they'd finished writing it. I would stick to 2000 for now - and there's still life in 98SE if you've got it already.

 

[Freddie]

 

[Bahco]

You guys have made some good points and I am indebted to you for your time.
I do need to get rid of this thing and in spite of Freddies bad experience I look the look and sound of Dell.
My present one is a Tiny computer which in spite of bad press has served me well.
Does anyone know the difference between Celeron and Pentium processors?

 

[Igorian]

B, have a look here. A really good site for other stuff too.

 

[Big_Spark]

Yep, the basic difference is the level 2 cache being at least half what the Pentiums have and as I recall it works at half the speed of the CPU, in Pentiums it works at full speed.

There is some change in this general rule now as Intel have played about with their basic floor plan, but generally a Pentium (ie P4) will do two to three time the work of a Celeron in the same time, if it has HT then it will be even quicker.

BAHCO, let me ask you this, what do you intend to use the computer for over the next 2 years. Have a think, then post back. This is important as it allows you to determine the spec of the machine you need.

Think about this, do you own, or will you be buying a Digital camera, and will you be processing them pictures on the PC?

Will you be doing lots of computational intensive tasks? Graphics, Media, sound processing and gaming are all intensive tasks. Some Office apps are also intensive.

Do you use CAD software..this really will determine the machine you buy..

It all seems trivial, but is vital to getting a machine that you want and does what you need.

 

[Big_Spark]

B, have a look here. A really good site for other stuff too.

Igorian..

Core - The Celeron chip is based on a Pentium 4 core.

Cache - Celeron chips have less cache memory than Pentium 4 chips do. A Celeron might have 128 kilobytes of L2 cache, while a Pentium 4 can have four times that. The amount of L2 cache memory can have a big effect on performance.

Clock speed - Intel manufactures the Pentium 4 chips to run at a higher clock speed than Celeron chips. The fastest Pentium 4 might be 60 percent faster than the fastest Celeron.

Bus speed - There are differences in the maximum bus speeds that the processors allow. Pentium 4s tend to be about 30 percent faster than Celerons

That lot is a bit out of date now.

 

[Freddie]

You guys have made some good points and I am indebted to you for your time.
I do need to get rid of this thing and in spite of Freddies bad experience I look the look and sound of Dell.
My present one is a Tiny computer which in spite of bad press has served me well.
Does anyone know the difference between Celeron and Pentium processors?

I will give you a tip when you speak to the Dell sales team then, unless you want something super dooper make sure that it is an off the shelf run of the mill thing you are having-----write down the sales mans name and make sure that he writes to you confirming that you have a money back no quibble gaurentee of him----he can do that if it isnt one being made up just for you and if you ask him this before you buy it, then you have him by the short and curlies---------i may have been a one off but learn by my experience as well as laugh at my misfortune.

 

[Igorian]

That lot is a bit out of date now.

But it will give him the general idea. I don't think he wants a hi-tek answer that he probably won't understand.

 

[Bahco]

FWL

In response to your query I don't think I will be using any of those you mentioned.
I am thinking though that if I am purchasing a new computer I may as well have an up to date one.
I do download music off the net so will need a burner.
I will just be generally tatting about but will probably progress to games as the kids get older.

 

[Freddie]

Well you are bound to have a digital camera and a cam corder so you will need a firewire card, dvd burner will do films photos and music so at least 16x speed the rest is what you mainly use it for

 

[ninebob]

Going back to Dell for a second:-

My experience so far has been superb. All computers have their niggles and faults, I'll come to mine in a moment.

Ordered my Dell by phone, the sales staff were helpful and polite and gave me a delivery date. On that day I was working just round the corner so I left a note pinned to the door with my mobile number, saying I could be back at the flat in 5 minutes if they called me. They did just that and the delivery went perfectly.

The computer was fine when I set it up and worked flawlessly for a few months. Then I tried to use the TV-out (SVHS) facility for a powerpoint presentation, and it would only work in black and white. I phoned Dell Support, they were once again polite, after going through the troubleshooting decided it was a duff video card, and sent me a new one the following day by courier. Worked perfectly!

That tells me two things about Dell: firstly, the sales and product are good, secondly: if you do have a problem, the support is excellent too.

My Dell is now 18 months old, but it's a 3.06Ghz so I'm not really going to need to upgrade it for another year at least. But when I do I will most definitely have another.

 

[andy]

Have a budget of around £400.

a few month ago i upgraded my comp. i spent that on just MB, graphix card, CPU and 2nd monitor!

 

[Big_Spark]

BAHCO, I just had a trawl around the DELL site and went to their outlet part, most people miss this..

Click on THIS link.

If you can afford to Buy using a credit card, I would suggest the top option (E6W1A9EZ), that machine swill keep you going for years.